Crack the Code
by The88Constellations
Summary: In which Charles Beckendorf gets a little too curious about Silena Beauregard's safe. Charlena. Oneshot for my Half-Blood Home AU, takes place one year before. It's recommended that you read Half-Blood Home before you read this, but you don't have to in order to understand it.


Charles Beckendorf had a crush, and he didn't like it.

He was friendly enough, and everyone knew it, despite his intimidating physique. But still, it wasn't a good idea to think about romance in the Half-Blood Home for two reasons.

The best reason was that everyone had bigger problems. No one really wanted to be in a relationship when they were still grappling with the demons of their own pasts. Beckendorf was unique in that way. Both his parents were dead, but they died when he was five. He barely remembered them. He knew that a lot of the other residents had been abused or neglected, or dealt with some other problem that was a lot worse than being orphaned at a young age.

Also, gossip spread like wildfire. Even hugging someone of the opposite gender was a big deal. Some rumors, particularly the ones about residents on the tougher side, were dispelled as soon as they were spread. The rumor, for example, that Clarisse had a crush on Chris. (Of course, that was later confirmed to be true, but when it had first circulated, Clarisse made no secret of pummeling the perpetrators.)

But still, all the logic in the world couldn't stop love. He had a crush on Silena Beauregard, who was tough to impress. She relentlessly paired people up, people who got together more often than not. The only mistake she'd ever made was pairing up Thalia and Luke, who'd tried it for a few weeks and then broke up, realizing that they were just friends.

What could he do to earn her affection?

He didn't know. All he knew was that she had a safe under her bed (he wasn't stalking her, he just knew from his friend Nyssa, who slept in the bed next to Silena's). And although he knew it would look bad if he opened her personal safe, Beckendorf was just too curious.

He claimed he felt sick one day after breakfast, but instead of going into the bathroom, he snuck into the girls' dormitory. He found Silena's bed and stared at the safe underneath. What was the code?

He tried his lucky numbers. He tried Silena's birthday. He even tried 1-2-3. But nothing seemed to work.

Just when he was going to give up, Silena returned to the girls' dormitory, having finished her morning chores.

"Beckendorf?" she asked, incredulous. "What the hell are you doing in the girls' dorm? You said you were sick! And… are you holding my safe?"

Beckendorf had no idea what to say. Ugh! What was this awkwardness? He'd never been awkward before!

Slowly, a devilish grin spread across her face. "Oh. _Oh._ I see how it is. You have a crush on me, don't you? Well, romance tip #1: don't look through your crush's stuff. It makes you look like a stalker. But if that's how it is…"

She kissed him on the cheek. He grinned and kissed her back.

"And if you're so inclined to see what's in the safe, I'll show you. Just promise not to tell anyone."

Beckendorf nodded solemnly.

She used a code that she concealed from him, and the safe opened. In it was a box of chocolates.

Beckendorf's eyes went wide. Chocolate was a rare commodity at the Half-Blood Home. If anyone knew that Silena had a whole box, all of the contents would be gone in less than five minutes.

"Before my dad died, he owned a chocolate shop. He gave me this on Valentine's Day last year, the day before…" she trailed off. It wasn't hard to guess what she was going to say.

He wasn't going to ask for one, but it must have shown in his eyes how badly he wanted a chocolate.

Silena sighed. "Fine. Don't ask again." She handed him one, and he bit into it, savoring the sweet flavor.

They kissed again, and all was right in Charles Beckendorf's world.

 **A/N: Hey guys! Shameless plug: This story was published for a competition on a forum called Camp Half-Blood, founded by DaughterofHypnos17! There are new prompts every two weeks, so I'll be publishing a lot of oneshots in the near future. However, Half-Blood Home still takes top priority.**

 **I hope you liked it! Please review and tell me what you think!**

 **~The88Constellations**


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